Eager for new business, town resists going to pot

CHELMSFORD -- Chelmsford may be looking to increase its commercial base, but if your business proposal involves marijuana, don't expect to be greeted with open arms.

A narrow majority of Chelmsford voters opposed the state ballot question that legalized recreational marijuana last year. Now, town officials hope to prohibit any pot-related businesses from setting up shop in town.

Next month, Town Meeting will take up three related articles that seek to meet that end.

Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Pat Wojtas said the state has been slow to iron out regulations for recreational marijuana establishments.

"It did seem prudent to bring it before Town Meeting, to see how we should move forward -- whether to ban them completely or have a moratorium, or put them in certain areas and zone for them," Wojtas said. "That's where it came from -- to have the discussion and see what the sense of the community is going forward."

Of the 20,442 Chelmsford residents who voted in the November election, 10,242 were against recreational pot, 9,911 were in favor, and 289 left it blank, according to official results.

Under the compromise legislation passed in July, in communities where a majority of voters voted against the ballot question, officials can decide on bans without bringing it back to the voters. In Chelmsford, that means a simple majority vote of Town Meeting can amend the town's general bylaws to prohibit any kind of recreational marijuana establishment -- retailers, cultivators, product manufacturers, testing facilities, or any other types of marijuana-related businesses -- in the community, Town Manager Paul Cohen said.

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That will be the focus of the first of the three articles. The second, which requires a 2/3 vote, seeks to amend the town's zoning bylaw to make it clear that recreational marijuana establishments are not permitted in any zoning district, Cohen said.

Should the first two articles fail, he said, the third article gives Town Meeting the option to consider instituting a temporary moratorium instead of an outright ban. The moratorium, which would be in effect through Oct. 30, 2018, would allow the town time to study the issue, make planning, zoning and permitting considerations and await guidance from the state, Cohen said.

The neighboring town of Billerica -- where 52 percent of voters supported recreational marijuana last fall -- will also consider a moratorium. Their Town Meeting on Oct. 3 will take up an article for an 18-month moratorium to give officials time to draft a bylaw to address zoning regulations and enforcement. Other area communities with approved moratoriums include Littleton, Tewksbury, Wilmington and Burlington. Several towns have also enacted bans, including Westboro, which was the first, and, most recently, Milford.

Community Development Director Evan Belansky said the Planning Board was split on the zoning matter, voting 3-3 (with one member absent) last week on whether to recommend it. Those who voted against recommending the zoning prohibition felt the town should first go for the temporary moratorium to study the issue further, he said.

Wojtas said she voted against the referendum last year, believing it was a public safety issue. But now that marijuana is legal in the state, she said she feels somewhat ambivalent.

"There's advantages, I think, to allowing a facility in town, in that we would have control over it. It would have to come before the Planning Board, we could place restrictions on it, and there's up to a 3 percent local-option tax on all sales, that would benefit the town," she said. "On the other hand, the town itself did vote against it in the referendum last year, which says to me, the residents don't really want this type of facility in town."

Selectmen plan to review and make recommendations on these and the other 28 articles on the fall Town Meeting warrant at their meeting on Monday, Wojtas said.

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